In the field of laundry, it is well known that when one transports dirty laundry to be washed, hangers are also carried to hang up the clean clothes. However, due to their design, hangers are typically difficult to manage. Especially true for wire hangers, they become entangled with each other when they are grouped together and then released. For instance, many people place the hangers on top of their laundry basket when preparing to take the laundry into a laundry room, or for those without a laundry room, to a laundromat. When the basket is not full, the only problem may be the entanglement of the hangers. However, if the basket is full or overflowing, the hangers will also tend to fall.
In order to avoid these problems, many people throw the hangers into container such as a bag which is then either placed on top of the laundry basket or is carried separately. However, the same problem with entanglement occurs which in turn makes it difficult to retrieve a single hanger. When one hanger is pulled from the bag, several other hangers entangled with the one are also pulled from the bag, with the potential of all of the hangers eventually being pulled from the bag and the mass of hangers being set aside as would be in the case where the hangers are simply thrown on top of the laundry in the laundry basket.
Many devices have been produced for carrying articles which are hanging on conventional clothes hangers. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 2,609,104 K. F. Leach Sept. 2, 1952 3,907,118 J. Y. Pelavin Sept. 23, 1975 4,153,189 A. F. Hughes May 8, 1979 5,330,244 D. C. Rodwell July 19, 1994 5,509,632 L. D. Mesna, et al. Apr. 23, 1996 ______________________________________
Of these devices, those disclosed by Leach ('104) and Pelavin ('118) are provided for holding clothes carried by conventional clothes hangers and are configured to be received over a closet rod, an automobile window, or other horizontal support member. These devices are elongate members supported at one end such that the device hangs downwardly. Individual receptors are defined along the elongate member for carrying one conventional clothes hanger each by receipt of the hook portion of the hanger. In the '104 device, the receptors are defined by a number of loops formed by bending a rod, while the '118 device includes a chain, with receptors being defined by individual links in the chain. Thus, when each receptor is filled, and the elongate member is carried at one end by, for example, a closet rod, the clothes hanging on each clothes hanger are held in close proximity to each other. The purpose for such a device is to conserve room required to store the clothing held on the clothes hangers.
Hughes ('189) and Rodwell ('244) both disclose device for retaining a plurality of clothes hangers as a group. Each of these devices provides a hook to facilitate carrying the device with hangers mounted thereon, and further to facilitate engagement of a support device such as a closet rod or a hook provided in an automobile for the placement of a hanger. Each of these devices is provided for carrying a plurality of hangers by receiving the hook portions thereof, as in the previously described devices. However, there is no provision for preventing the hangers from moving in relation to each other. However, because these devices are intended for carrying clothes which are carried on hangers, the weight of the clothes and the separation of the hangers as a result of the clothes obviates such a need.
That device disclosed by Mesna, et al. ('632) is a hook configured to be mounted on an inclined surface such as an individual link in a chain link fence. The '632 device illustrates a conventional "S"-type hook where an upper hook is configured to be received over a particular structure and the lower hook is configured to receive at least one item. For purposes of the present invention, it would be envisioned that a number of hangers may be carried by placing the hook portion of the hanger over the lower hook of the device.
However, in each of the devices disclosed above, the hook portion of the hanger is being engaged. A resulting problem is empty hangers are being carried is that there is a tendency for the hangers to move with respect to each other. As the hangers begin to move, some may tend to become disengaged from the device and fall. As disclosed, it can be seen how each device provides a useful function while carrying clothes which are carried on hangers, but such devices lose their utility when carrying empty hangers.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for carrying a plurality of hangers such that the hangers are prevented from becoming entangled with each other.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for carrying clothes hangers such that they may not become dislodged therefrom.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device for carrying clothes hangers in such a manner as to keep the hangers organized, while also providing a means for mounting the device on a clothes basket, therefore allowing for the transport of the hangers with laundry to make the hangers available to hang clean clothed thereon.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a device wherein hangers may be removed therefrom without creating entanglement between the hangers.